Stop sharing the 'I'm in a mental hospital' Facebook post. It's not funny—it's harmful

People love Facebook posts that invite them to create silly lists of their friends and family members, and most of the time, it's all in good fun. But a "mental hospital" post that keeps circulating is nowhere near good fun, and it needs to go away, now.
The post begins, "This is Hilarious!" before telling people to follow the directions to fill the following list with Facebook friends' names:
"I'm in a mental hospital
My roommate:
Licks the glass:
Helps me escape:
My psychiatrist:
Asleep in the corner:
Shouts at everyone:
Padded room occupant:
Kicks the nurse:
Believes they are a unicorn:
Sneaks in the alcohol:
The end of the version I saw read, "That was fun!" and "Sometimes you need some mindless humor!"
This post is mindless, but it definitely shouldn't be considered humor.
For anyone who struggles with mental illness or who has loved ones who do, this post is hurtful, not humorous. It portrays problematic ideas about people who are mentally ill and makes light of a serious issue that millions of people face. Being in a mental hospital isn't a joke or something to make light of—it may actually be a life-saving move for some people. Posts like this just reinforce harmful stigmas about mental illness that keep people from getting seeking the treatment they need.
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Jen Simon, a writer who has written extensively about mental health issues, shared the screenshot of the post on Facebook with names crossed out. "This is not hilarious," she wrote. Simon lost her sister to chronic depression in 2018, after a years-long battle with mental health ended in suicide.
If you don't see how the Facebook post is distasteful on its face, look at it through the eyes of someone who has lost a loved one to mental illness. So painful. But when Simon raised her concerns with the post, she was admonished by the woman who had shared it. She was "told not to take it personally," because she hadn't even been tagged in it.
"It made me think of the scene in You've Got Mail," says Simon, "when Tom Hanks said, 'It's not personal,' and Meg Ryan replies, 'It's not personal to YOU—it is to me.' The rest of my life will be defined by the shadow of mental illness and suicide. Regardless of the author's intent, for those of us who suffer or watch our loved ones suffer, it sure as hell feels personal."
Kimberly Zapata, founder of Greater Than Illness, a non-profit organization that aims to empower children and youth struggling with mental illness, found the post infuriating. She says that instead of making jokes about mental illness, we should be talking about how we can improve mental health.
"The problem with remarks and 'jokes' like this is not only that they perpetuate negative—and in many cases, untrue—stereotypes. It is that these stereotypes often keep people from getting help," says Zapata. "For example, no one wants to be seen as the 'crazy' person screaming and mumbling incoherent obscenities in the corner."
"What's more," she adds, "these stereotypes convince people that mental illness has a 'look,' and if one does not fit into the so-called mold, they are not really sick — and that is just as dangerous, as many ignore or disregard their symptoms because they are not 'that bad.'"
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We have come pretty far in reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness, and posts like this send us backwards. When we know better, we do better—and we need to do better than share things that cause harm because we don't see the problem and think it's "all in good fun."
There are times and places for finding humor in mental health struggles, such as when people with anxiety or OCD joke and laugh together over their shared experiences. But such humor should take place within a supportive community, not come from outside in a way that pokes fun or dismisses or pushes stereotypes. That kind of joking spreads harm to people who are already dealing with enough, which is why we need to stop circulating these kinds of posts immediately.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.